Weather Journal: A Break from the Rain Boots and Umbrellas

Greater New Yorkers can skip the rain boots and stow their umbrellas in preparation for a sunny and relatively warm Wednesday.

The week got off to a soggy start in the tri-state area, but skies will slowly clear overnight on Tuesday. On Wednesday, an area of surface low pressure tracks through the Great Lakes region and into southeast Canada and a weak cold front approaches the mid-Atlantic states at the same time. Despite these systems, dry conditions are expected to last throughout the day.

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Olympic figure skater Gracie Gold performs at The Rink at Rockefeller Center on Tuesday in New York City.

Although Wednesday’s skies will be more blue than gray, there will still be patchy clouds lingering overhead. Another warm day is in store, as temperatures continue to run about ten degrees above normal.
Daytime highs will once again near 50 degrees and although these levels are not record-breaking, they are well above the mid-January average high of 38 degrees.

A cold front passes through the region on Wednesday night, bringing low temperatures in the middle 30s and a very slight chance of showers after midnight. Temperatures begin to trend downwards on Thursday, which looks mostly sunny with highs in the 40s.

Unfortunately, the tri-state area’s early taste of spring will not last much longer. Colder and more seasonable high temperatures in the 30s move in on Friday and stay through the weekend. Uncertainty remains in the extended forecast, thanks to a series of low pressure systems developing off the coast. If conditions are right, a few snow showers could occur over the region on Saturday.

Those not excited by the chillier weekend weather may find happiness in the fact that, as of Tuesday, meteorological winter is half over–the first day of spring is just 45 days away.